Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We live in a world where global interactions are part of everyday life. We're used to watching events from across the world in real time, and it's easy to make quick, careless observations. Each story only takes a minute or so of screen time. But it has never been more important to understand each other deeply.

In October I was part of the Global Dialogue exchange program in India. The Global Public Policy Institute, based in Berlin, in partnership with the Australian National University's National Security College, brought together German and Australian parliamentarians for trilateral meetings, including a meeting with India's Minister for External Affairs, Dr Jaishankar. The program is generously supported by the Robert Bosch foundation.

Dr Jaishankar has had an immensely impressive career serving as India's ambassador to both China and the United States. He offers a perspective that we need to consider carefully and seriously. He advised in 2022 that Europe 'has to grow out of the mindset that Europe's problems are the world's problems but the world's problems are not Europe's problems'. To this end, in our meeting he spoke frankly about the positive refocus on the Indo-Pacific. I take this as a reminder that we are all interconnected and need to understand this and our different perspectives.

Australians particularly need to understand the importance of India as one of the fastest growing economies and soon to be the third-largest economy. Even within my own electorate, Punjabi is the second most commonly spoken language, with Gujarati not far behind. We need to understand how we capitalise on the brain chain that exists now between our nations. Throughout the week, we discussed maritime security, emerging technology and climate as well as regional issues of concern.

India is also an extraordinary democracy. While sitting in their new parliament I was struck by the fact that each of India's 543 members of the Lok Sabha, the House of the People, serves up to 2.5 million constituents. It's a beautiful, fascinating country. We visited the Lodhi Gardens, a city park in New Delhi that presents a microcosm of India's extraordinary history, with examples of how Hindu and Islamic architecture has learnt from and been influenced by each other.

I first visited India at the age of 16 and continue to be struck by its immense variety. It has elements that we are so familiar with, such as cricket, as well as elements that we must simply observe with wonder and, I hope, intense curiosity.

How and when do we work together? How do we understand each other better? For all of us, it was a lesson in respect—the respect that comes from listening and learning and embracing the challenge of difference rather than shrinking away from it. When we look at each other squarely, honestly and with respect, our relationships will grow.